


A Tale of Two Nights (And the Day Between)

by Doranwen



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Family, Gen, Nightmares, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-27 06:23:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19785037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doranwen/pseuds/Doranwen
Summary: Nightmares interrupt the children's sleep that first night at Cair Paravel.





	A Tale of Two Nights (And the Day Between)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jude_writes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jude_writes/gifts).



> I loved so many of your prompts that I couldn't help but put as many of them into one fic as possible. I hope you enjoy. :)
> 
> Beta thanks to aurilly, whose help was much appreciated. Any remaining inadequacies or errors in this fic are my fault, not theirs!

The silence of the first night at Cair Paravel was shattered by Lucy's cry, as she went from turning and tossing in restless slumber to sitting bolt upright on her bed. A moment later, the sound of Susan's slippers could be heard on the stone floors as she hurried in. 

"Are you all right, Lu?" Susan sat on the bed next to Lucy and began rubbing her back.

"I dreamed the White Witch was back, and she turned you all into stone. She kept waving her wand around and around and then she pointed it at me and I woke up."

Susan hugged Lucy tightly, then released her. "That sounds really scary."

"Do you get nightmares too, Susan?"

Susan chewed on her lip a little. "Sometimes. Just before you woke up, I had dreamed that we saw Aslan killed again, and that somehow they found you and were dragging you to be executed the same way." Susan hugged Lucy again. "I heard you cry out, and I thought for a moment it was part of the dream. I'm glad you're safe."

"Will you stay with me?"

"Of course. Shall I tell you a story?"

"Yes, please," Lucy begged.

Susan slipped into bed next to Lucy and wrapped an arm around her younger sister. "Once upon a time, there was a girl…"

* * *

The children drowsily made their way to the dining room, where they were met by the head cook, a Badger. "Please, fill your plates, your Majesties, and let me know if there's anything else you'd like," she urged before disappearing into the kitchen.

Lucy yawned as she spread preserves on her toast. Susan across from her looked little better, blinking sleepily as she lifted a forkful of eggs to her mouth. Edmund next to her rubbed his eyes and stabbed his fork into a potato chunk. Peter poured tea into each of their cups carefully. He covered his mouth when Lucy's yawn seemed to pass to him. "It seems that we all need more sleep," he commented when his yawn passed. The other three children glanced at each other but said nothing.

Breakfast was a quiet affair, with only the occasional clink of dishes and smacking of lips, and a "please pass the preserves" from Edmund. They had finished the last bites when Peter turned his head toward Susan. "It's good to see you this morning, Su." His face was solemn as he continued, "I dreamed that I hadn't reached you in the tree and the wolf got you."

"You had a bad dream too?" Edmund asked. "I dreamed the witch had turned you all to stone in front of me and was about to execute me."

"Lucy and I had bad dreams as well," said Susan. "We've seen a lot of terrible things in the past few days and I think it's hard for our minds to let it all go."

"Maybe we need to chase them out with good things today," said Lucy, "doing fun things together."

Edmund looked at her with a little puzzlement. "Like what?"

They all looked at each other, until Susan's gaze fixed on the wall ahead of her. "Well…"

* * *

"Another inch to the left," Susan called.

Edmund attempted to keep balance on the ladder as he shifted the tapestry he was holding accordingly. Peter moved his side of the tapestry over to match, and stage-whispered to his brother, "I'm not sure if this counts as 'fun things'." Edmund stifled a chortle and began to hammer a nail through the tapestry into the mortar between the stones.

Susan turned to him quickly, frown melting to a grin as she caught the twinkle in his eye. "We're making the castle more beautiful! Doesn't it look nicer already?"

Peter cast a glance down the hallway, which now had beautiful tapestries every few paces. "You're absolutely right; it already feels less forboding and more welcoming."

"Besides, all those tapestries were just waiting for us to come so they could be used," Susan pointed out.

Lucy beckoned Susan to bend down, and whispered something in her ear. Susan's face broke out in a grin. "Lucy has another excellent idea for what we should do after lunch."

Edmund passed the hammer and container of nails to Peter. "Does it involve the outdoors?" he asked. "As lovely as this hallway looks, it'd be nice to see more of what's outside Cair Paravel."

"Wait and see," Lucy said mysteriously.

* * *

Lucy and Susan absolutely refused to give the boys any hints about their surprise, no matter how much pleading they did, and the work of that morning had given them all quite an appetite. It was therefore not unexpected that they nearly inhaled their lunch. "You're going to choke if you keep eating that fast," Susan warned them, which brought only a slight reduction in speed.

"Will you tell us now?" Peter asked when they had eaten the last of their apple crumble.

"I thought we could go swimming in the lake that's just beyond that next hill," Susan said. "One of the dryads told me about it." Lucy added, "We all have swimsuits in the clothes they brought us, and we could ride our new horses there." 

* * *

"You haven't had riding lessons yet, your Majesties," said the stablemaster King Cole had sent from Archenland. "It wouldn't be safe."

"Oh," said Susan, disappointment displayed plainly on her face. 

The four children turned to go, but halted with a sudden "Wait!" from the stablemaster. "I know some centaurs who might agree to take you if I explain. I'll go ask them right away."

* * *

The centaurs thought it would be an honor to take their new sovereigns riding. "We don't usually offer to let humans ride, you see, but seeing as you haven't had any lessons yet, and this is the first chance you've had for an outing, please consider this our coronation gift," said one of them.

Soon there was a merry party that set out for the lake. The afternoon was filled with splashing and shrieks of laughter. The sun had been exceptionally warm that day, and the lake water felt wonderfully cool without being too cold. Susan and Edmund raced each other across a narrow portion of the lake, and Peter helped Lucy master a swimming stroke. At the first shiver, they all climbed out and dried themselves off with the towels the housekeeper had sent along before climbing onto their volunteer steeds for the return trip.

Tea was nearly as quiet as breakfast, but the looks on each face bore a striking change from the morning. Lucy, however, was more tired than even at breakfast, and fell asleep beside her plate with a partially eaten crumpet in one hand. "Let her sleep till we finish," Susan whispered.

"I'll carry her upstairs," Peter said, and proceeded to do so after his final bite of cake. He deposited Lucy onto her bed and Susan helped her into nightclothes before going to her own room to change.

When Susan returned to check on Lucy, she laughed a little to see Peter approaching at the same time. "I thought I'd see how she was doing," he said, "whether she was dreaming again, see."

"Peter? Su?" Edmund called softly from the hallway. "I came to see how Lucy was."

Peter joined Susan in chuckling. "I think we all had the same idea."

"Oh, why don't we all sleep in here tonight anyway," Susan said. "The bed is certainly big enough, and I feel as if I couldn't dream bad things if we're all together."

"I agree," said Peter, and they all climbed in, Susan and Edmund on either side of Lucy and Peter next to Edmund on the outside. They clasped hands as their eyes closed and they all drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Lucy cracked an eye open the next morning, wondering why her bed felt so very warm. _Oh, that explains it_ , she thought, seeing the others. _They must have chased all the nightmares away._ Only a few bird songs reached her ears, and the sun seemed as sleepy and relaxed as Lucy felt. She decided to close her eyes again; she didn't have to get up yet, and she was awfully cozy and content. _I'm very glad to have Peter and Susan and Edmund_ was the last thought that went through her mind for quite some time.

**Author's Note:**

> The first day might seem a bit of a holiday for them, but I can imagine that they might give the children a day just to settle in before they have to start governing and ruling. (And, of course, making the castle lovely is important too!)


End file.
